Hydrogen-rich Saline Reduces Atherogenesis in Apolipoprotein E Knockout Mice Fed a High-fat Diet by Inhibiting the Non-HDL-mediated Arterial Inflammation and Promoting the Expression of Genes Involving Reverse Cholesterol Transport

Aim Hydrogen(dihydrogen,H2) is an effective antioxidant to reduce oxidative stress and oxidative stress is implicated in atherogene-sis.In this study we examined whether hydrogen-saturated saline can prevent atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout(apoE-/-) mice fed either chowdiet or high-fat diet,and characterized the underlying molecular mechanisms.Methods and Results The atherosclerotic lesion formation displayed by oil red O staining positive area was reduced significantly in either aortic root section or aortic arch en face in hydrogen administrated apoE-/-mice fed either chowdiet or high-fat diet,compared to the control.Plasma analysis by enzymatic method showed that total cholesterol(TC) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(non-HDL-C)were remarkably decreased by treatment with hydrogen.Western blot analysis revealed a significant decrease of both plasma apoli-poprotein B(apoB) level and hepatic expression of apoB after hydrogen treatment,suggesting hydrogen could downregulate the expression of the major protein constituent of non-HDL.In addition,spectrophotometric measurement showed that plasma levels of malondi-aldehyde(MDA) and serum amyloid Awas decreased and paraoxonase-1 activity was increased in mice treated with hydrogen,suggesting plasma lipid oxidation and peroxidation was impaired by hydrogen treatment.Besides,the MDA content of the non-HDL,whichseparated by ultracentrifugation from the plasma of mice treated with and without hydrogen,was reduced by hydrogen,suggesting the oxidation of non-HDL was impaired by hydrogen.Moreover,we found hydrogen treatment significantly suppressed the production of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interleukin-6 in RAW264.7 macrophages after stimulation with the isolated non-HDL,suggesting hydrogen reduces atherogenesis by inhibiting non-high-density lipoprotein(HDL)-mediated inflammation.Furthermore,immunohis-tochemistry of aortic valve sections revealed that hydrogen attenuated lesion formation by suppressing the expression of several proin-flammatory factors and decreasing vessel wall infiltration of macrophages,indicating hydrogen-treatment reduces arterial inflammation.Besides,real-time PCR and western blot analysis disclosed that the expression of several transporter genes involved in the process ofreverse cholesterol transport,including hepatic scavenger receptor class B type I(SR-BI),ATP-binding cassette(ABC) transporters ABCG8,ABCB4,ABCB11,and macrophage SR-BI,were all induced by hydrogen treatment.Conclusion These results re-vealed that administration of hydrogen-rich saline reduces atherogenesis in apoE-/-mice fed a high-fat diet by inhibiting the non-HDL-mediated arterial inflammation and promoting the expression of genes involving reverse cholesterol transport.